A Fictional Way of Putting Things!
by Hanabi Belle
Summary: Hiatus.
1. Epilogue

**Prologue:**

_Passion in my eyes, I lived it everyday, but how could you go and throw it all away_

_In my dreams it's me and you, it's there I saw it all come true_

_As time went by faith in you grew, so one thing left for me to do _

Chains are pulled tighter and a blonde gasps almost croakingly as he is pushed back up ag against the wall. He looks at his captor as if he is Satan himself and then looks away, nose in the air. He could smell the dried blood against his head and thought just that in itself was going to make him vomit. He couldn't take it anymore, and now the dried blood was being used against him, for he had to be scraped upside the wall to stand correctly.

A greedy hand dragged itself against his chest and down to his crotch lazily. "I like this." The raven muttered as he began to slowly intrude in what little privacy the other had left within his jeans. The hand found itself between boxers and up against something that was just about the opposite of the expression on his slave's face. "Hmm?" Pulling out the hard shaft, he looked over the slightly swollen tip and smirked. "Not in much pain, are you?" The whisper was said against the blonde's ear. "Or rather, _not enough_?"

The question was left unanswered as the blonde closed his legs tightly. He bit down on his lip harshly and closed his eyes, hoping that this wouldn't go any further than it already had. The chains against his wrist were slowly begining to delve into his skin and leave red scars, in which the scars begin to pore open and let the blood slowly slip out of the crevice, carelessly dropping where-ever it landed.

_I feel it burn inside, burning me like the rising sun_

_Lifted into the sky, took away the only thing I loved_

_I know after tonight all your power crumbles in my arms_

_So don't worry, I'll be fine, when my life ends, I'll leave this scar_

"...damn it." The raven groaned as he stood up again. The blonde passed out from too much blood loss, again. "I'm going to have to fix that sooner or later." He said before crossing his arms and turning.

Luckily, the blonde was just faking, and he wasn't knocked out or anything like that; although he was in pain. But he had to admit, he loved it. The feeling of pain surging through his thin veins was just enough to make him feel like he was on the edge of pleasure, and he wanted nothing more than to feel that pleasure, as much as he could; for it drove him, it drove him senseless. He couldn't see much through his blurry tear stained eyes, but he knew that _Sasuke_ had already left the room, or rather the 'chamber' as they had dubbed it.

"Arigatou ne, Sasuke."

Naruto muttered through clenched teeth and finally closed his eyes.

_In my dreams it's me and you, it's there I saw it all come true_

_As time went by faith in you grew, so one thing left to finish you_


	2. The Bulls Eye

**Story:** A fictional way of putting things!

**Chapter:** Chapter 1

**Summary: **Naruto is a striving artist who gets his inspiration from getting hurt – he's a masochist.

* * *

It was a normal day in the beautiful yet highly populated city San Francisco. Naruto Uzumaki was sitting down at his favorite spot in the whole city, China Beach. He was a young artist, self proclaimed, of course. He was sitting on top of a large rock, letting the water crash up against it as he calmly sketched a picture in his ever so trusty sketchbook. He was drawing a flaming sun, as gorgeous as those beautiful golden locks he had, and diamond clear water that could pierce through even his pure cerulean eyes.

Beautiful ocean water crashed against the rocks he sat on and on the sand there were beautiful shells littered across the way, hermit crabs crawling every which-a-way to their own dismay. This was a typical beautiful beach setting; one that would definitely fit an artist's preference for a quick sketch.

Naruto sighed and put the notebook down. He stood up on top of the rock and let his hands sway lazily. "Might as well." He said before turning around and closing his eyes. He fell backwards; into the water. He let the water slowly delve into his nose as he felt himself falling deeper. He wanted to feel it, the way others felt when they were drowning. He swam up and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it backwards. "God damn. That wasn't right. " He mumbled before biting his lower lip and then going back beneath the water. There were bubbles that were a sign of his living.

Sasuke, a passerby was along the sidewalk a bit farther away from the water. Sasuke was pretty good at lip-reading and on top of that the blonde stood atop the rock quite idly. He stared blankly as the blonde fell backwards, purposely. "What the hell? What an idiot." He mumbled before sighing. As he continued to walk blankly in the direction he'd already took, he glanced back over to the large rock and the water the blonde dived backwards into. But then he noticed that the bubbles stopped! He didn't know if he should help or not, and knowing him, he probably wasn't going to be any real help anyway.

He slid down the side of the leverage and then walked over to the water. He noticed the large rock had something on top of it.

The raven jumped onto the rock, climbing it forcefully. The harsh feeling of rock scrapping his palms was pretty thick, how did that blonde get up here without hurting his hands? And then he saw it, the picture was of a sunset and beautiful crisp water hitting up against a rock, you could even see feet, as if he drew himself sitting down there. But there was something weird about the sun in this picture. It was a flaming color, as if blood had been used. The gradient went from yellow, orange to blood red. How eerie.

Sasuke looked down at the blonde as his head popped up from beneath the water and raised a brow of confusion. "Hn. What the hell are you doing?" The raven asked before picking up the sketchpad, "And what the hell is this?" The picture Uzumaki had been drawing was held up high enough for him to see it. Naruto squinted his eyes at his own sketchbook and artwork.

The blonde looked off to the side as if to say, 'duh', he looked back to Sasuke with shifty eyes and mused,"My drawing? God what're you stupid?" Naruto said in quite the pretentious manner. He delved his head back beneath the water and swam back a few inches before emerging from it again.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched with annoyance as he sighed and sat down on the large rock. He placed one hand over his knee that was propped up, his wrist on top of the ball of it as his hand hang idly. " So tell me, why were you trying to kill yourself?"

Naruto stared at the ravenette and eventually shook his head in a disagreement, "I wasn't trying to die, thank you very much." With that comment, Sasuke was confused. Who falls backwards into the deep blue and expects to live? Plus all those sharp rocks could kill anyone at the right angle. Or at least Sasuke thought so.

"Wait so then, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked before watching the other swim back over to the rock, climbing it.

Naruto looked down at the sheet of paper, "I have better art when I'm in pain, as strange as it sounds." His eyes were saddened in the slightest before looking back to Sasuke with those same sparkling cerulean eyes he'd greeted him with.

Sasuke, who was more horrified than surprised, found himself leaning over into a better sitting position. Curiousity boiled inside of the raven as he couldn't help but ask the question, "What if you were to hurt yourself? Like, in a serious manner?" Narutos ear twitched in the slightest at the sound of the question.

The blonde muttered something incoherent, causing Sasuke to glare at the other guy, "What'd you say?" Sasuke asked sternly before leaning even closer, as to hear what the blonde had to say.

Naruto sighed and in turn said, "I did before. I was hospitalized for about a month. I had lots of good ideas." He said with a fox-like grin. He shuffled his fingers in an almost entertaining manner, trying to find something to do. It was odd that someone could say such a thing whilst easily brushing it off, twiddling his fingers like a dobe!

Sasuke nodded,"That's because you were sitting on your ass all that time, dobe!" Sasuke said defiantly with a smirk. He was enjoying messing with the fox-like blonde. He seemed to have big plans for himself, and that interested the crow.

Naruto's grin faltered, "What? No! I'm just good like that, Teme!" Both of the young men could already discern that they would dislike each other before the end of this day; their eyes met in an almost unexplainable way. It was like static erupted from their pupils and they glared at each other with an intensity like none other. Okay, so maybe it was a little explainable.

"Hn. Whats your name?" He asked the blonde, who was picking up all his art supplies. He didn't want them to get any more wet than he had made them by touching them, plus he was ready to go home and have a nice hot steaming bowl of ramen. You know, the greatest food in the world?

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. You?" Once all of his things were organized, he placed them in the bag; it was an organized bag that was square, it had a frog on its lime green exterior. Naruto yawned and stretched a bit, his sogging wet shirt crisply pressing to his tanned skin. He was extremely tired after that long swim.

Sasuke smiled, "I'm Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto in turn, dropped everything yet again. He had to hurriedly pick it all back up, hopefully not dropping it into the waves. He had no idea that this guy would say such a thing! Those people were conservative pieces of sh-

"Y-you're. . .you're an Uchiha?" Naruto asked before picking his things up and jumping down from the rock and beginning to walk off! He hated those people. They were snide, greedy and didn't treat anything but their own asses with respect! That respect being that they had pride enough to wipe it after shitting on innocent people! Okay, so maybe there wasn't physical shitting but he was sure that's what it felt like!

Sasuke watched the other before jumping down as well and followed the blonde, "Whats wrong?" He questioned before placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Naruto hit the others hand,"Uchiha's are corporate assholes!" Naruto said with his usual fox-like expression. He sounded pretty positive, too. How could someone sound so positive about a mindless insult?!

Sasuke rubbed his hand before sighing, "I'm nothing like my family members, Naruto." He said sternly before taking the others bag, "Here, I'll carry that if you listen to what I have to say." He took it and walked ahead of the other. The waves began to splash against the sandy floors, inching closer and closer to land.

"Okay." Naruto said, crossing his arms and walking beside the other, "So, what is it that you want to discuss?" He asked in the pure silence of the two, all that could be heard was the crashing of the water. Sasuke was interested in the blonde, either it was the masochism or the beautiful art! Perhaps it was both.

"Would you be interested in a free. . ." What would interest the blonde at this point in time. He looked him up and down as he hummed, dragging on the 'e' of the word free as he thought of what he could offer. All the money in the world and he can't seem to figure out what he wanted to bribe the blonde with. Wonderful.

Cerulean blue eyes perked up at the sound of free! He loved free things. He really did. He made sure to keep his eyes locked on to the ravenette even as he hummed awkwardly.

"D. . .dinner?" The raven said in a less stern way than anything he had said the whole day. The look that the blonde was giving; How could he explain it? The strong stare that those cerulean crystals gave him was _more than_ sexy. Naruto's eyes were on him as if he had a bone to pick with him; Sasuke quickly looked away. If he'd stared any longer, perhaps there would be a _bone_ to pick. All in all, Naruto was just pretty sexy.

Naruto's eyes grew happily at the offer he was given, his lovely blue eyes growing like dinner plates,"Free dinner?" He repeated, receiving a steady nod from the raven. "Okay! I can do that!" He said happily before walking ahead of the other. "I know the perfect place!" Naruto chirped up.

Sasuke was going to tell him to shut up and let him pick, but he knew he wouldn't get much out of a person like Naruto if you tried to keep him down. So he had might as well go with whatever the blonde said for now. "Alright," He mused before walking as well, catching up to the ecstatic blonde.

When Naruto stopped walking, both he and Sasuke had realized something almost too obvious. Naruto's clothes were soaking wet!

"Want to get some clothes from my house or yours?" The blonde wasn't that much shorter than Sasuke. Sasuke figured that if Naruto was over here at the beach and he wasn't wearing a swimsuit, he had to live pretty close to here. So, just like he'd ask Suigetsu or Shikamaru, he went ahead and thrown it out there.

"Yeah sure." Naruto was going to do anything to get a free dinner at his favorite hot spot in San Fran! Damn, he hadn't realized how hungry he truly was up until now.

* * *

He followed the other and was really surprised when they came to a building; Sasuke Uchiha lived in an apartment; maybe he just didn't want to live anywhere near his parents. Strange.

But then all was put back on track as he saw the inside of the building. Gorgeous tiles and golden bars supporting the stairs. Beautiul, most likely satin, curtains and a Valet for those who actually needed cars to walk down streets. Yeah that's right, walk. down. Streets. That's all he ever did in this place.

Sasuke gestured for Naruto to follow him up the stairs and around the corner to room 891 where he was staying. Taking his keys from his pocket, he opened the door and swung it open, moving so the other could get through first. "Keep your shoes by the door, and take off your shirt and pants by the door too. Wet carpet doesn't smell nice." Sasuke said as he put the other's bag down and went to get a towel.

Naruto growled something but did as he was told none the less. He put his soaking wet clothes beside his feet and waited for Sasuke to come back with a towel; _How safe was this? _It wasn't necessarily dangerous, rather it was strange of him to be so close to someone.

Sasuke came back with a large towel and gave it to the blonde, he couldn't help himself from letting his eyes gaze down the tanned body, the contours and the nice lips the blonde had; It was amazingly sexy, and Sasuke couldn't contain himself. "Hold on." He turned around yet again to go get his phone; For some unearthly reason he wasn't carrying it with him today.

Naruto was still drying himself off as the other walked away. He quietly wrapped the towel around his shoulders and took a step onto the carpet, with his now dry feet. "Sasuke? I need those clothes now." He said as he continued to walk forward, he turned right to looked through the two doors on that side. The first was a bathroom. The second was Sasuke's room. He figured it was the bedroom because it had a bed. Yeah.

Naruto walked into the room and opened the closet door, picking out a shirt and pants. He could look at them and tell they were big so he got the smaller shirts from the back, and skinny jeans. He looked over the clothes a gain and then put the towel down, beside the bed.

He took up the shirt and put it above his head, pulling down slowly, as to not hurt his migraine. He put on the pants as well, and by the time Sasuke had come back from talking on the phone, he was fully dressed. "I need shoes too." The tanned young man said, leaning back on the bed tiredly.

Sasuke soon over forgot why he was trying so hard to 'go on a date' with this idiot. "Huh..."


	3. The Eyes of the Beholder

**Story:** A fictional way of putting things!

**Chapter:** Chapter 2

**Summary:** Naruto is a striving artist who gets his inspiration from getting hurt – he's a masochist.

* * *

Sasuke observed Naruto closely and found himself laughing, covering his mouth before it could get out of hand and therefore embarrass himself.

Naruto blinked once or twice and scooted back on the bed,"Oi! Oi, why are you laughing at me, Teme?" Naruto asked as he pulled at the button up he'd pulled over his head. The buttons were uneven and looked lazily strewn together, and the pants looked like skinny jeans on the blonde, too. These were Sasuke's old clothes, and Naruto could easily get into them; yet the pants hugged his body, and they were never skinny jeans when Sasuke wore them!

" It's just – those clothes are so old! It's like- heh- you're small! "

Naruto blushed profusely at the word 'small'. Well – well – he was pretty sure that his big head was compensated by what was in his pants! He didn't think he was very small at all! And when he walked with Sasuke along the beach they seemed to be around the same height, right right? Well – well – at least he had a nice figure! He had some nice muscle, too! "Tch, how tall are you?" He huffed and glared at the ravenette, whom in turn just smirked.

"Hn... I'm 5 feet and 8 inches tall," He pointed a finger at Naruto as if he wanted to shoot him with a gun, "And you?"

Naruto crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks, the rough blonde glared at Sasuke with furious _blue_ eyes. "_I'm 5 foot 5 inches_," He quickly ruffed out the sentence, "But that's just as good as your height so suck it!" He didn't think he was very small, but perhaps when he'd stayed in the hospital for so long, he lost a bit of weight hopping over meals because they weren't ramen.

Sasuke liked this kid. He wasn't like everyone else who always just took what he said and listened, or let him speak as if he owned the place. While Sasuke liked feeling like he owned the place, when he was talking to people he wanted to be friends with, he hated it. The only other person he could have a face to face conversation with was Neji; but that was a different story.

Sasuke, teasingly ruffled the blonde's hair up. "Sure. You're big. You're a big, big man." Sasuke snorted and quickly shoved his hands in his pockets. "So what should we eat?"

Naruto slapped the air that would've been Sasuke's hand had he obtained quicker reflexes in the last few seconds. He put his hair back in place (even though he had successful bedhead always) and then thought about it for a bit. "Well...we could always...eat..._Ramen_?"

If Sasuke knew any better he'd say that the 'thinking' noise Naruto was using, was fake. "Ramen? You mean that sub-par food? I'd rather not," Sasuke narrowly dodged Naruto's hand as it swung out to slap him. "What the hell, Dobe!" The Uchiha quickly returned that slap, but he didn't miss. Luckily, he just slapped Naruto on the shoulder, like a quick pap, if anything.

"How could you call Ramen, 'sub-par'." He mimicked Sasuke when he said the last word, serious expression and all.

" -because it's disgusting, Dobe."

"And what is a 'Dobe', anyway?"

"Could you stop mimicking me like that?!" Sasuke quickly placed his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose, pressing the digits against it angrily. This was annoying! Even though Naruto looked very, very delicious, and his attitude was very, very new. IT WAS ANNOYING.

"Look, when I offer people dinner, I don't think Ramen; I think a nice meal. So just take the offer and eat something nice with me, alright?" Sasuke had a very serious face on, but at the same time his tone sounded like that of pleading.

"Sasuke..." Those blue eyes sparkled almost artificially and he clasped his hands together, like a poor anime he'd seen not too long ago, standing from the bed and leaning forward as if Sasuke'd had confessed something to him!

"D-Dobe?" Red tinged his cheeks and he took a step back; what'd just happened?! What did he say? He couldn't recall it at this time as he was a bit surprised by Naruto's reaction.

"Are you..asking me out on a date?" Naruto's expression quickly changed, and his eyes slanted into a bit of a disgusted look, his tongue quickly coming out as if saying 'ick'. "Rejected." He made a slit-throat motion with his hand. "But because it's free, I'll still go. Food is food," He crossed his hands as if saying,'why not.'

"Sick- definitely sick. I knew that following you home would be kinda gross, but sti- " He was quickly cut off by Sasuke, whom decided it would be best to trip the blonde, placing his knees on either side of his hips. His hand slammed down beside the blonde's face, which startled him.

"Shut. Up." Sasuke glared at the blonde beneath him, and then his hand pointed at Naruto, again. This time it was more like some annoying stern parent. Gross!

"Look, when people offer to get you some fresh clothes so you don't _die of pneumonia_," As if on cue, there was a phone call. Sasuke quickly moved away from the starry-eyed blonde and picked his phone out of his pants pocket.

"Hello?" Sasuke glared at Naruto and motioned for him to get off of the floor.

Naruto scrambled up to his feet, his face red with well, excitement. He sat back down on the bed and watched as Sasuke began to pace about the room.

"Yes...I know that." Sasuke glared at Naruto for good measure as he spoke to the person on the phone.

"Uh, no? Dad said that I had the weekend off, so I've been spending my weekend off." He shrugged his shoulders. "Itachi, you know how he gets when we _both_ want time off." His eyes went to thin slits as he glared at his cell phone as well.

"No. No. Maybe." Sasuke pulled his phone away from his ear,"Dobe, do you mind if my brother comes along with us to go eat?"

Naruto thought about it a little,"Sure, as long as he isn't like _you_!" He made the retort quickly, only to roll out of the way as Sasuke tried to jump on him. Who the hell could multi-task like this!

Sasuke grabbed either of Naruto's wrists,"Yeah, you can come." Sasuke squinted his eyes, annoyed at the next question. "Tch, you can bring her too." He 'wrestled' with the blonde as Itachi went on about how amazing his girlfriend was. Her name was Sakura. Sasuke remembered her vividly because she tried to jump his bones every time he insulted his brother. Literally. When Sasuke stopped showing her any attention, she pretty much made the 'thing' between herself and Itachi official, sticking her ass right in between the siblings relationship.

They looked nice together. If only Sakura wasn't so violent.

"Yeah..." Naruto tried to pry his wrists away from Sasuke, their arms moving every which-a-way as he spoke on the phone. "Ngh, Teme..." Naruto muttered, trying to push him away with the 'force.' When it seemed to be failing, he moved as if attempting to sit up and eventually growled, threatening to bite at the ravenette and even snapping those fanged canines of his shut.

"Mhm...Constantina? Fine. " When Itachi finally said his goodbye, Sasuke dropped the phone by moving his shoulder slightly and pulled Naruto forward, only to clunk heads with him lightly. "I was on the phone, Dobe!" Sasuke raised his voice accusingly and the blonde quickly looked away.

"You chose to do this own your own! I didn't do anything to you," Naruto sneered, blue eyes going half-lidded into that of a glare.

"Idiot."

"Bastard."

"Nuisance."

"Bastard,"

"Dead last,"

"Bastard."

Sasuke finally let go of Naruto's wrists and rolled over. "Naruto, fix the buttons on your shirt. And then go fix your hair too." He covered his eyes with his forearm and just stared at the darkness this created, his mouth opening and closing out of boredom.

"Me? What about _your hair_?! Have you _seen_ the back of it?"

* * *

After what seemed to be hours of quarrels, the two idiots finally left the apartment to go meet up with Itachi and his Fiancée. They would be eating at a restaurant called Constantina. It was italian. The restaurant was just as, or possibly more fancy than the apartment building. There were lots of fancy cars lining the area as well as multiple valets tending to said million-dollar vehicles.

There was a red carpet that led into restaurant as well as golden lights to mark the path. There was a man in a pricy tuxedo standing about the entrance, greeting people as they walked inside. It made Naruto groan. Even the doorman looked as if he was banking more than Naruto. As they walked inside they were quickly, albeit grumpily, greeted by Itachi and the lovely pink-haired lady herself.

Naruto whistled as he saw Sakura hurriedly following behind Itachi. She had her hair up in a loose ponytail aside from her evenly snipped bangs, and she wore a more modernized cheongsam that pressed against her chest. Now, Sakura wasn't necessarily blessed in her chest region, but the way the dress pressed up against her breasts made them look a hell of a lot better than they did. Her large hazel orbs seemed to change with the surroundings and brightly appeared green thanks to the lighting of the restaurant. Yet when she heard Naruto's whistle, that innocent expression quickly changed. "Pig!"

Itachi ignored her word and greeted his brother, clasping his hand to Sasuke's tightly. "Good evening, brother." Itachi was much more charismatic than Sasuke was, but you could tell they were related because of their iron orbs. The older Uchiha smiled to Naruto, as well. "Blonde hair, blue eyes...I really didn't think that's what you were into, Sasuke." Itachi couldn't help but joke about it. He didn't really _know_ Sasuke's sexuality but because he was such an oddball, it wouldn't be surprising at all.

"It's not like that, I met him on the shore of the beach. He's an artist." Naruto quickly seperated the brothers' hands and placed his upon Itachi's single hand. "Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!" He couldn't help but shake at Itachi's hand for extra measure.

Itachi raised a brow,"Mmn. Uzumaki?" He let Naruto shake at his hand until he finally got bothered by it, and made no hesitation in squeezing the boys digits tight. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Kyuubi, would you?"

Naruto puffed out his cheeks, quickly looking off to the side! He couldn't stand Kyuubi! Kyuubi was Naruto's older brother. He did everything right, while Naruto did everything wrong. Tall, handsome, and strong. Kyuubi was a flaming redhead, with bright honey colored eyes. From far away, one would think they were orange. While Naruto had a rich creamy-tan skin tone, his brother had a pale skin tone in contrast. He was just about as tall as Itachi, now that Naruto thought about it! "It's not like I like him or anything, but yeah!"

Sasuke sputtered, almost laughing. Did Naruto really just say that?

"Ahh, I thought so. Even though you don't necessarily look like him, your presence matches his." Naruto and Sasuke both sputtered this time, Itachi's words making them laugh like idiots. "What're you? Some kinda ninja?" They said in unison, mocking Itachi soon after,"Your presence."

When they were finally approached by a waiter, (no one really wanted to talk to them, because they seemed so happy as is.) they were lead to a nice circular table so they could continue their conversation. Sakura followed along but really couldn't figure out what to say. It was hard being the only girl, sometimes.

"So, Sasuke. What made you take a break?"

As Itachi scooted Sakura's chair out for her, Sasuke pulled Naruto's in an attempt to _make him slip and miss it_. Naruto narrowed his eyelids and sat further back than a normal person would as to avoid this, scooting up to the table afterwords.

"Well, usually I'd just take a break later rather than sooner in the year, but I decided I needed some time away from the business because it seemed like things were going smoothly anyway," Just as expected, the Uchiha company was a very well known business for their innovative techniques and intelligence branch. They did a lot to help the community while capturing it as well, taking and owning everything in exchange for a great wage and wonderful hours. They were a capital business.

"Well yeah, but your Fath- I mean, _our_ Father hates to see you go. You're his pride, you know." Itachi wiped away and imaginary tear with his hand before callously slinging an arm about the chair that Sakura sat in.

"No, _you're_ his pride and joy! You're just trying to say that so I can take your job and you can go elope with- " Anger. Anger. He calmed himself before he could insult the cherry blossom, simply watching her as she twirled a straw on the table, her other hand beneath her chin keeping her head hoisted up. She'd probably be sleeping otherwise because when no one talks with her she gets bored. When no one gave her the _attention_, she gets bored. " With Sakura."

Itachi rubbed at his chin and then after a moment tilted his head,"Maybe so, but think about it for a moment. Who gets more work," Clearly Itachi was just trying to get away, he even went so far as to admit it blandly.

"Who cares who gets more work, it'll all be on my ass once you're gone! I thought you wanted to eat and have fun, Itachi." He glared at his brother and glared at Naruto too! He went ahead and glared at Sakura too! Damn them all for sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant that he couldn't rage in!

"What do you want me to do, Sasuke?"

"I want you to admit you want to leave by quitting! Stop throwing everything on my back and do the right thing, Niisan!" Sasuke quickly brought his hand to his mouth, his face going red. What did he just say?

Naruto laughed, slamming his hand on the table, laughing even more so."What're you like 8? Gahah! Niisan!" Okay, when it was put in this perspective, this mimicking thing seemed a little annoying.

"Oh shut up,"

The waiter came by and finally asked the table if they were prepared and ready to order. Sakura, keen on sticking to her diet Ino had suggested for the wedding, ordered the fresh Fettuccine with sauteed tomatoes and basil. Sasuke ordered the Prime Delmonico Steak. Naruto got lemon and herb Salmon with Orzo. It seemed like a good alternative to Ramen, to him. Itachi ordered the same thing as Sasuke. They usually used food to speak. This was a thing for them. As he ordered it, he looked right at Sasuke, who made a 'tch' in response.

Sakura yawned as she placed her hand on her chin,"I'll have a sweet tea, to drink." She glanced at Naruto and then Sasuke. These two. How old were they, exactly? If she could remember, she was barely a year older than Sasuke. His brother was nearly five years older in comparison. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the waiter as Naruto and Sasuke looked over the menu at the drinks. "Hey, I don't remember being old enough to drink, so why would you be?" Naruto and Sasuke both looked up from the menu they were sharing and Naruto hissed at the big mouthed girl.

She was so pretty a minute ago!

"Tch, Naruto. Looks like someone doesn't want us to drink. I'll have Sprite, then." Sasuke flipped over the menu. Naruto huffed and placed a hand on his cheek,"Mountain Dew." They both looked at Itachi who was the last to order, both times, appearantly.

"I'll have your finest wine." This time when his eyes met with Sasuke's he could see the rage in those obsidian orbs. Perhaps he was jealous? Mad, even?

"Will that be all sir?" The waiter went ahead and bowed his head when Itachi nodded and both Naruto and Sasuke watched as the waiter turned his back to them and walked away.

They looked at each other and fought the urge to mimic him, only to wait for their drinks.

"So, Naruto, what kind of art do you make?" Itachi placed his hands on the table; this was something he did whenever he wanted to prove that he was listening to someone. He placed his hands on the table so he could hint that he wasn't doing anything else and that his eyes were directly on said person.

The blonde shrugged his shoulders,"Contemporary." He used his pointer finger to make squiggles in the expensive spread on the table. "I just draw when I feel like it, nothing big." The sparkling blue eyes Sasuke saw when Naruto told him about his art, were not seen when he told Itachi. And although Sasuke didn't know Naruto very well, this noticeably bothered the ravenette because he didn't understand the change. He didn't like change.

"Oh? Have you published any of your work? Made it known to the world yet?" Itachi was asking such strange questions because Naruto's brother, Kyuubi was pretty successful. Kyuubi was a performer. No, not like some circus freak, like a singer. The only reason Sasuke didn't recognize the name is because Sasuke wasn't much of a 'rock' type of music person. He enjoyed classical music that helped him concentrate.

"Er..no. My art is just that. It wouldn't make a difference if it were published or not, I do it because it makes _me_ feel better,"

Feel better? Sasuke's brow furrowed in curiosity. Did that mean he wasn't feeling all that well when he was sitting atop that rock? Perhaps he had problems at home? How intriguing. Not that Sasuke cared or anything, but he'd been listening intently the entire time.

"Oh but you're wrong, Naruto. Publishing your art, having it in a museum and other methods of showing the world is an amazing feeling!" When their drinks were set down, Itachi tilted his head as to get around the tall glasses, to look right at the blonde. " Just think about it, and then I'll help you out," The older Uchiha sounded stern in his words.

" I – "

"If he doesn't want to publish his art, you can't make him." Sasuke spoke up even before Naruto could, placing a straw in his glass and using his free hand (the one that wasn't beneath his chin) to direct it to his lips. "Leave it be, Itachi."

Naruto nodded his head at the words,"Just...I'd rather think about it, first, Itachi."

Itachi nodded his head,"You don't really look it, but you seem like a thinker, so...sure. We can just wait it out,"

As the food was finally placed on the table, the waiter bowed before bidding adieu for a second time,"Thank you," Even as a waiter the man had a bit of a snooty voice.

As Sakura unwrapped her utensils, she glanced at Naruto and Sasuke who were watching the waiter leave. They watched him all the way up until he shut the door of the kitchen, returning to his post inside of there. They turned in their seats and smirked at each other.

"_Thank you,_"

Yes, that mimicking thing was getting much, much more annoying.


End file.
